Single pan sub-milligram scales were available in the 1950s. Didn't Lockhart work at some big university? With that type of instrument you could evaporate 5g liquid samples and get the same resolution as a hand held coffee refractometer.

It's weird that it isn't easy to figure out exactly what he did. Maybe he was using hydrometers. But would the speed of measurement really have been that big of an impediment to his research? They had gas chromatography to study volatiles back then. Last time I checked on Amazon you still couldn't get a hand held GC for $20.

I have also found many exceptions to the established "rules" on extraction and strength. The huge range in consumption strength was one eye opener. The other was that we routinely make assumptions on our "depth of extraction", and have mis-applied the drip Coffee Brewing Control chart to other methods where the math doesn't really work (like infusion), and we rarely pay attention to shifts in dilution for methods that have some (like the water at the bottom of a siphon).

With drip, I've had still very decent cups with a technical extraction of 17% or so... so the rules aren't hard and fast. That's why there's no right answers with coffee.

You refer to the brewing control chart as "drip" oriented. Is there any reference that states that this is the case? I thought that the brewing control chart applied to home brewing generally - drip, percolation, French press, vac pot etc...?

I've been mulling over the data David made public and it seems that clearly defined patterns are difficult to identify.

He will probably give a longer response, but last year Vince F. demonstrated in his NBC2012 talk that immersion methods (french press) and percolation methods (pour over) should be analyzed by different formulas. The brew control chart is a good guide for finding the zone that is appealing to people, but the way you would plot your specific cup within that chart is different based on the method. Doing a search through these forums will yield some of those threads for sure.

He will probably give a longer response, but last year Vince F. demonstrated in his NBC2012 talk that immersion methods (french press) and percolation methods (pour over) should be analyzed by different formulas. The brew control chart is a good guide for finding the zone that is appealing to people, but the way you would plot your specific cup within that chart is different based on the method. Doing a search through these forums will yield some of those threads for sure.

I did watch the NBC talk, nearer the time, but it's been pulled now. I think if David' Phase 2 results show anything it is that coffee preference exists somewhat outside the brew chart ideal box (granted, just because people like it, might not make it "ideal").

My original point was though, that the brew chart does not seem to have been originally created specifically with pourovers, or any other specific brewer in mind?

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